XML is a language for defining hierarchical data in simple text where each piece of data can have attributes and meta data. An example would be:
<cluster>
Label="Num1"
<numeric 1>
value=3.2
representation=DBL
style=slide
</numeric 1>
<numeric 2>
value=3
</numeric 2>
</cluster>which is a mockup for what a LabVIEW cluster definition
might look like. XML is kind of complicated, because to properly read nested structures, you need some clever recursive calls. It's also not very efficient, but it's very good at passing meta data around. LabVIEW's XML primitives are not useful for any kind of XML, but if you search for "LabXML", you should find VIs which use the Microsoft parser to parse XML. You can read more on XML in many other places.
OpenG is a group which releases open source reusable LabVIEW code. There are many programs which were written using OpenG VIs, which can be very useful. You can read more at
OpenG.
XControls are controls which have code behind them, so you can make a control which will be smarter and will also work at compile time, but they are relatively complicated and advanced. Some examples I have seen are a paint program (you drop it and you get paint tools which you can use and LED display string, where you input the strings and it automatically displays it as scrolling LEDs). You can find some tutorials and examples if you search here and in the LAVA forums.
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